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Mike is ‘Dern’ good at the game of golf |
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Written by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff
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Tuesday, 20 May 2008 |
Mike Dern is the new assistant professional at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club. The 25-year-old from Manitoba has taken over for Jeff Wiggins.
Those who have suffered the indignities of double and triple bogeys even after years of swinging the clubs may be a little miffed at Mike Dern. Or, conversely, they may see him as a guy who has struck a blow on their behalf against the famously fickle golf gods.
Dern, the new assistant professional at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club, didn’t start taking the game seriously until he was 17. Now he’s 25 and he’s already a fourth-year pro.
He wasted no time in mastering the sport -- to the extent it can be mastered, that is.
For Dern, it all began at the Hecla Golf Course just outside of Winnipeg.
“I started working out there in the summer -- it was a high school summer job that kind of turned into a golf career. I was a late one to the sport,” he said.
“The place where I worked was pretty quiet so it was extremely easy to practice and play all day. It was an easy way to kill time and it was easy to get out on the course so it was kind of the best of both worlds. It was a lot of practice and a lot of playing.”
Dern has taken over at the PGGCC for Jeff Wiggins, who left Prince George in March for a head pro job in Whitehorse.
“We got (Dern) late in the season but were lucky to get someone with his qualifications,” said Laurie Pierce, head professional at the PGGCC.
Dern’s most recent posting was a one-year stint at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Winnipeg. Prior to that, he was at Winnipeg’s Elmhurst Golf Club for a year. His first job in golf, the one at Hecla, lasted for seven years. For six of those, he worked under Dave Gray Jr., who happens to be a product of Prince George. Gray Jr. was the one who informed Dern of the opening at the PGGCC.
Dern is a scratch golfer but he did have a bit of a rough outing when he recently played 18 holes at his new course. On the par 71 layout, he carded an 81. “I didn’t do so well -- I left a lot out there,” he said.
“My short game (was the problem). It’s been a long time since I’ve touched a club, really. I didn’t do anything over the winter so it was first round out, a new course, and I just couldn’t get up and down from where I should have been doing it.”
A significant part of Dern’s responsibilities at the PGGCC will revolve around junior golf. He is overseeing the club’s junior program and is also in the process of getting the Northern B.C. Junior Golf Tour back in operation.
The junior tour, with Wiggins at the controls, was highly successful in its first two years of existence. For this season, Dern is shooting for a June 1 opening at the Williams Lake Golf and Tennis Club.
“Right now it’s a work in progress and within the next few days I expect to have some answers (from potential sponsors),” he said. “Quite honestly, I’m expecting that we’ll have the support for it.
“If everything goes well, I think we’d be looking at about six to seven (tour stops). We’d have three up here in this area, three either in Williams Lake or 108 Mile and then one in Quesnel.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 May 2008 )
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